Machines for securing hooked belt-fasteners



Dec. 16, 1958 J. J POTTER MACHINES FOR "SECURING HObKED BELT-FASTENERS Filed March 29, 1957 Inventor To HN IA M ES POTTE A tlorneys y 9 0M My United States Patent MACHINES FOR SECURING HOOKED BELT-FASTENERS John J. Potter, Sheifield, England, assignor to Hayden-Niles Limited, Shefiield, England This invention relates to machines for securing belt fastening hooks of the type in which a pair of pivoted jaws is adapted to be closed on to open hooks, single or in groups, to clinch them in spaced relationship across the end of a driving or conveyor belt, for linking to hooks similarly applied toanother end of the belt.

It is usual to provide the jaws of belt-fastening machines with separate hardened checks to withstand the wearing action of the repeated clinching of hooks, and, if necessary, to provide for an interchange of cheeks to provide a gap opening appropriate to the thickness of the belt to receive the hooks. A convenient construction of cheeks has a transverse dovetail or similar projection to efiect a close fit with a recess of corresponding shape in the jaw, into which the projection may be'slid to hold the cheek close to the jaw. To prevent displacement of the cheek, it has been usual to secure it by a screw passing through the jaw into a hole or recess in the projection. Whether provided with a projecting hexagon or other head, or with a head let into a counterbore of the hole for the screw, the screw has necessitated the use of a spanner or other tool for release of the cheek.

The object of the invention is to provide for the securing of a detachable cheek and its release without the need for tools, with consequent advantage in the use and adjustment of the machine, particularly in the restricted and dusty locations in which such machines are used, e. g., in mines.

According to the present invention, in a machine for securing belt fastening hooks into a driving or conveyor belt of the type in which pivoted jaws are provided with detachable cheeks each with a transverse projection to make a close sliding fit with a corresponding transverse recess in one of the jaws, each jaw is provided with a spring-urged plunger adapted to enter the recess in the jaw, each cheek is provided with a notch transverse to its projection to receive the plunger, and each plunger is provided with means by which it may be retracted from the notch for sliding insertion of the cheek on to the jaw and sliding withdrawal of the check from the jaw.

Advantageously, the plunger is provided with a head in the form of a bar of length greater than the width of the jaw, so that the ends of the bar may be grasped by the finger and thumb for retraction of the plunger from the notch in the projection, when the cheek may be slid from the jaw. With still further advantage, the jaw has a transverse slot into which the bar fits when the plunger enters the notch, the bar then being well protected, with only its ends emerging for engagement by the finger and thumb.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figures 1 and 2 are a plan and a side elevation respectively of a jaw unit adapted to be moved progressively along a comb bar that presents open hooks to the end of a belt;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the jaw end of the jaw unit;

Figure 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section of one jaw, taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 5;

Figure 5 is a section of the jaw along the line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of the upper end of Figure 2, showing the jaws in open position ready to clinch a hook into a belt.

In Figures 1 to 3, jaw levers 1, 2 have a common pivot 3 carried between side plates 4,5, which a'ls'o carry a common pivot 6 for a pair of handles 7,'closin 'g of which closes the jaws. Casings '8, '9larg ely enclose the connecting mechanism (seeFigure 6) by which'the handles 7 are enabled to close the jaws with very considerable pressure' A skid 10 supports the jaw unitand enables it to slide transversely along the end of'a belt that is to receive the hooks.

The jaw levers 1, 2 have hardened cheeks 11, each fitting closely the inner face 12 of its jaw lever and with a transverse projection 13 nearly a full circle in section and joined to the cheek by a neck 14 (Figure 4). A transverse recess 15 in the jaw lever has a similar circular section, breaking into the face 12 of the jaw lever by the width of the neck 14. A cylinder bore 16 runs into the jaw lever midway of the length of the recess 15 to contain a plunger 17, between which and the inner end of the bore 16 a compression spring 18 is inserted. A continuation bore 19 of smaller diameter through the jaw lever receives a stem 20 carried by the plunger 17, the stem ending in a cross-bar 21 of length greater than the width of the jaw lever (Figure 5), to receive which the jaw lever has a transverse slot 22. The projection 13 on the check has a notch 23 milled through part of its thickness, into which the end of the plunger 17 is urged by the spring 18, the cross-bar 21 then fitting into the slot 22. By pulling on the cross-bar 21 by grasping its ends emerging beyond the slot 22, the plunger 17 may be retracted from the notch 23 in the projection 13, when the cheek 11 may be withdrawn by sliding it transversely. The plunger is similarly retracted for the re-insertion of the cheek, or insertion of a replacement cheek. The plunger 17 may be held retracted by rotating the cross-bar 21 out of line with the slot 22.

Figure 5 shows the cheek 11 provided with a face that is serrated at 24 for initial engagement with one limb of a hook to be clinched and a slightly relieved plane portion 25 to apply further pressure to the same hook in the next closing of the cheeks 11, after the jaw unit has moved by the distance between adjacent hooks. This movement occurs just as the cheeks 11 are being brought to their fully open position, as shown in Figure 6, a pawl 26 (Figures 1 and 3) being operated by the opening movement of the handles 7 to engage a comb bar 27 (Figure 6) that is detachably connected to and guided in the jaw unit by engaging notches 28 in the side plates 4, 5. The comb bar 27 carries open hooks 29 in position to be pressed through and clinched into a belt 30.

Cheeks 11 of different thickness may be used for belts 30 of different thickness, thinner cheeks enabling the requisite pressure to be applied to the hooks when the belt is thick, and vice versa. Alternatively, the same cheeks may be used for belts of different thickness by having the handle pivot 6 mounted in a sliding block 31, the amount of sliding of which can be adjusted by a screw 32 with a knurled head 33 disposed between the handles 7. In this case, replacement of the cheeks 11 is mainly when the cheeks have become worn or damaged.

What I claim is:

1. A machine for securing belt fastening hooks into a driving or conveyor belt of the type in which pivoted jaws are provided with detachable cheeks each with a 3 transverse projection to make a close sliding fit with a corresponding transverse recess in the jaw, in which machine each jaw is provided with a spring-urged plunger adapted to enter the-recess in the jaw, the projection on each cheek is provided with a recess to receive the end of the plunger, and eachplunger is provided with a head in the form of a transverse bar of length greater than the width of the jaw, so that the ends of the bar may be grasped by the finger and thumb for retraction of the plunger, for sliding insertion of the check on to the jaw and sliding withdrawal of the cheek from the jaw.

2. A machine for securing belt fastening hooks into a driving or conveyor belt of the type in which pivoted jaws are provided with detachable cheeks each with a transverse projection to make a close sliding fit with a corresponding transverse recess in the jaw, in which machine each jaw is provided with a spring-urged plunger adapted to enter the recess in the jaw, the projection on each cheek is provided with a transverse notch to receive the end of the plunger, and each plunger is provided with a head in the form of a transverse bar of length greater than the width of the jaw, so that the ends of the bar may be grasped by the finger and thumb for retraction of the plunger, for sliding insertion of the cheek on to the jaw and sliding withdrawal of the cheek from the jaw, the jaw having a transverseslot into which the bar fits when the plunger enters the notch, with only its ends emerging for engagement by the finger and thumb, the bar when turned out of line with the slot serving to retain the plunger in the retracted position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,303,090 McCray May 6, 1919 1,727,160 Crowley Sept. 3, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS 703,898 Great Britain Feb. 10, 1954 

